By Chris Durant
Eureka Times-Standard

EUREKA, Calif. — The path has been cleared to finalize deals between the city of Eureka and the police and fire unions.

Eureka city staff is recommending that the City Council vote tonight to authorize Mayor Virginia Bass to execute a Memorandum of Understanding between the city and Eureka Firefighters Local 652 and the Eureka Police Officers Association.

"We had very productive negotiations, where each side openly discussed their thoughts and concerns," said Eureka Fire Chief Eric Smith.

Eureka City Manager David Tyson said the new contracts should make both departments more competitive in attracting recruits, and then keeping them within their ranks.

In recent months, some have argued that low wages have turned the departments into training grounds, were law enforcement and fire personnel come to get a few years' experience before moving to other departments with higher pay.

Monday, Tyson said the new contracts should change that to a degree.

"Certainly we will be more competitive," Tyson said. "But we cannot compete with other areas completely. We just don't have the resources here in Humboldt County and Eureka to compete with agencies outside our region."

With the new agreement, Tyson said, the departments are still likely to lose some employees to state and federal agencies, but not nearly as many to competing cities.

Increasing public safety is a major priority of the council's, Tyson said, and this contract is product of that.

Both Smith and Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen gave the City Council credit for streamlining the negotiation process.

"The city is being very supportive of the police officers," Nielsen said.

Smith said both the fire and police departments have the same concerns that need to be addressed, like being very young department and the recruitment/retention issues.

"I think the City Council has worked hard addressing these," Smith said. "We had a lot of concerns, and this is a very encouraging sign."

The length of proposed contract is from January until Dec. 31, 2010.

The fiscal impact from the negotiations for the 2007/2008 fiscal year for firefighters is estimated to be about $154,581, in which $149,081 is from the general fund. And for police officers, it will be about $209,594, all from the general fund.

Tyson said the negotiations were a balancing act for the City Council, with a genuine desire to increase public safety and bolster the departments weighed against a strapped budget.

"It's a balance that is very delicate," Tyson said, adding that the council had to take into account not just what it can afford today, but what it will be able to afford several years down the line.

"They fashioned a package here that, hopefully, meets both of those requirements -- it recognizes the employees and gives them a competitive wage, but does that within the budget."

Nielsen said there is always an air of uneasiness with contract negotiations.

"You never know what to expect," Nielsen said.

But these negotiations were different.

"It was very easy," Nielsen said.

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